Otis and Walking

[Otis’s Mom]

Otis and I always have walked 3 to 4 miles weather permitting every day for the last six years. He is 6 1/2. we go out around 930; yes, he likes to sleep in and he seems just to be stopping in the middle of our walk. Granted, I bring cold water and his dish and his treats. We live in Massachusetts and the temperature when I walk him does not go above 70 I put mushers( wax)on his pads just to make sure pavement is not too hot. He just started this in the last couple of months so now we’re down to 2 miles yesterday a mile and a half. I do take him out three times after that and he’s very energetics so I just don’t know if he does not like his walk anymore? He needs the exercise to keep him out of trouble Any suggestions on why he is doing this? Nothing hurts him to my knowledge. He had his check up and full blood work done in March. I just can’t figure it out.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Otis’s Mom
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[Sam I Am]

Our Scottie Rosie often just puts on the brakes and it is obvious she is hearing something that we don’t. It must be something that she find interesting, frightening…who knows. Sam gets bored if we tend to go the same routes that we do daily and will often try to head in a new direction. Can you bundle Otis in a car and go to a brand new interesting area that will tweak his sniffer to read new p mails and sites  that he finds exciting? Is there another he enjoys walking with?  Sam would love for me to just take off the leash and let him explore but that’s never going to happen…I would be looking for him in another province. 

These little fireballs are highly intelligent, have minds of their own and need new kinds of stimulation. If I don’t take take Sam out for walks daily , play with him with new toys I get ultimate Cairn tantrums . Which in itself is entertaining….bouncing up and down in one of his beds throwing it across the room and growling. Never a dull moment in our house!

PS: are his nails trimmed enough? Long nails can get very uncomfortable.

Edited June 23, 2023 by Sam I Am

[Otis’s Mom]

I think you might’ve hit on something, he might be bored.. I try to change the route up, but there’s not much around here. He is a very reactive dog, and since he was kind of like play mauled by a German Shepherd when he was a baby, he does not like any dogs that he does not know so that’s a no no.. as far as car rides another idiosyncrasy with him I picked him up from Massachusetts to to New York and back, got carsick the whole way, not a fan of cars.. I will try a different route.. like you, I cannot take him off the leash at all.. thanks for the advice I just thought perhaps as he was aging, but I don’t think that’s very old for a Cairn who is in good shape. Have a blessed day.

[Eliz222]

I walk Atticus between 2 and 3 miles every day. He would walk longer, but we are having extreme heat right now and he doesn't like to walk if it gets above 82 degrees. We stop at our local park so he can have a cool drink, and rest in the shade, half way through our walk. I try to walk in different directions, and on different streets every day, but I find that he tries to pull me in a different direction some days. Maybe he can smell something I can't?

 

Can you split the walks into 2? Maybe there are different smells during different times of the day? We are having lots of street work done (which has gone on for months) and if we walk in the middle of the day, Atticus gets to meet some of the workers, which makes his day. This week is going to be tough since the highs will be in the upper 90's. Ugh!

[Otis’s Mom]

yeah, we are into a heat wave right now. I broke up this walk. Our usual walk is 3 miles. I did take him a different way, and I let him go at his own pace.. he is doing much better. I cannot walk him in the extreme heat. Obviously I just go around my townhouse area and I break it up into three walks. we rest, and I always bring water for him and treats.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Otis’s Mom
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[Eliz222]

That's about all you can do in this heat. Thank goodness these are small dogs and we can "exercise" with them indoors.

[Otis’s Mom]

amen to that! He has got the same ball since he’s been a puppy, even though he has a whole wagon full of toys and balls, he refuses to play with any of them except that one

Edited June 25, 2023 by Otis’s Mom